Poly Gets Payback, Final Berth

Santa Ana Mater Dei couldn’t do what it needed to do -- control the line of scrimmage.

Anthony Torrell Baker did both things he needed to do -- run the ball from scrimmage and as a kick returner.

Together, those factors spelled victory for top-seeded Long Beach Poly, 18-7, over Mater Dei -- even though the Jackrabbits had four turnovers and failed to convert an extra point Saturday in a Southern Section Division I semifinal at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

Poly (11-2) will play in a championship game for the sixth time in seven years -- the exception coming last season, when Mater Dei beat the top-seeded Jackrabbits in a semifinal.

“You know what they say about payback,” Baker said. “We based [this game] on revenge.”

Baker rushed 21 times for 87 yards and scored twice, on a four-yard run and on a 93-yard kickoff return that opened the second half. That gave the Jackrabbits the final margin, and it was too big a hole for the Monarchs (8-5) to climb out.

“I said all week we needed to control the line of scrimmage, and I don’t think we did,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “What can you say? They’re Poly. They’re quick, they’re physical, and they’re fast.”

Mater Dei out-gained the Jackrabbits, 223-189, but turned the ball over three times.

“They made the plays and we didn’t,” Rollinson said.

Poly led at halftime, 12-7, missing a point-after and failing to convert a two-point attempt. The Jackrabbits bolted to a 12-0 lead with 55 seconds left in the first quarter, scoring twice after turnovers.

Kalapu Fasavalu’s 40-yard interception return, to the Mater Dei 46, set the stage for Baker’s four-yard score with 2:41 left in the first quarter. It was a big drive for Cruz Parsons, who completed two 13-yard passes to Desean Jackson and a 10-yarder to Baker.

Poly added to the lead moments later, after Jason Brown returned an interception 17 yards to the Mater Dei 17. Baker ran for two yards, then Jackson leaped to catch a 15-yard scoring pass from Parsons. Parsons’ pass on the two-point conversion was incomplete.

It appeared the rout was on, but Mater Dei answered with an 80-yard drive capped by a 30-yard run by Justin Guzman, and Pagemun Parvin’s point put the Monarchs in good position going into the second half.

Then came Baker’s kickoff return.